Sunken Gardens

The more chances I get to visit Tampa as an adult (I'm using the term loosely), the more I am beginning to realize that my Tampa experience thus far was pretty limited. My universe revolved around school, sports and not much else. I could only drive for two out of the thirteen years that I lived there and it wasn't like I was going off on weekend adventures during those two years. In my mind Tampa is not a vacation destination, if we had an open weekend we did not spend it at local attractions, we left! Now when I go home it is like a whole new town, over the Thanksgiving holiday we visited Sunken Gardens, "a botanical paradise in the midst of a bustling city". OK, so it is no Busch Gardens but, more importantly, it doesn't want to be! Instead of trying to go hi-tech, this little park embraces its tacky 1950's-tourist-trap side and the result was well worth our afternoon.

Turkey Day

We have many Thanksgiving traditions, one of which is trying (and failing) to not eat anything after breakfast until the turkey is ready (around 3pm). In an effort to distract us from hunger - and to make the most of us being home from school - mom has delegated to my sister and me (and whomever else is at the house that day) the task of putting up Christmas decorations. I love icicle lights and so a couple years ago I decided that we needed a set. Believe it or not, I came up against a good deal of opposition to this decision but as the person who has to climb on the roof anyway, my vote is the only one that counts! I am happy to report that the icicle lights are up and pictures will be posted soon. The other picture is of Katie and I ravaging the sweet potatoes - their timing was a bit off (they still needed to cook for about 15 minutes) but we were too hungry to wait so we scooped from the outside of the dish where they were already cooked, yum...

Kacy and Blade's Engagement Party

I am in Tampa for the next couple weeks to take my NCLEX, convert some vitamin D and celebrate the Thanksgiving holiday. In the spirit of procrastination I drove up to Gainesville this past weekend for Kacy and Brett's engagement party! Laura and Patti planned it and they did an amazing job, it was really fun to see everyone again and to remind myself why I am in no hurry to start my job - thanks Becca ;)

London is the Place for Me

For Love of Dumplings

I found a recipie for dumplings last week and I have been to the grocery store three separate times trying to gather the correct ingredients. The directions call for "wonton noodles" which are apparently unheard of in Carmel, New York. Julie kept trying to describe them to me (she claimed to have used them in a recipie before) but I was having no such luck and the grocery store employees were no help at all. So yesterday on the way home from the pirate party, we stop by the grocery store and guess what Julie is able to locate in under two minutes - that's right, the damn wonton noodles. So for future reference, if you ever need to find wonton noodles they are next to the soy products in the refridgerated section - who knew? Apparently Julie did. It was well worth the hassle however because the dumplings turned out very tasty.

A Pirate's Life for Me

Julie's godson, Aden, turned three this weekend and we went to his pirate-themed party in full gear. It turns out that there was a miscommunication somewhere because we were the only ones (aside from the birthday boy) in costume - oops. Whatever, we still had a good time complete with dinosaur-shaped chicken fingers, cake and a treasure chest pinata! After the party we went to the grocery store (still in full gear) and then home to watch a movie in front of the fire... all in all, it was a pretty good Sunday.

Blowing Leaves

We have a ton of grass so raking doesn't really cut it around here... this is a video I took of the boys using the blowers this afternoon. I took it through a window in the barn so it is a little blurry, but you can still get an idea of what a difference it makes!

"When a man is tired of London, he is tired of life."

Julie had a two day meeting in London last week and (since I have never been) she brought me along! I had an AMAZING week - she had to work the first two days so I entertained myself with all the tourist stuff, then she took the rest of the week off to show me around and introduce me to old friends (she grew up in London). It was the trip of a lifetime and I can't wait to go back!